If you want to flesh out your family tree, the best way to get more detail is to talk to relatives. With the holidays quickly approaching, this is the perfect time to ask some visiting relatives if you can get together in the new year to talk about family stories. There are a plethora of family stories floating around out there, and there’s ALWAYS someone who is just dying to share them with someone. Sometimes, as in the case of my maternal grandmother, those stories get exaggerated over the years, but there is almost always a kernel of information that you can use to solve a problem or add to your knowledge.

Start by jotting down people you actually knew or know in your family -- parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Spend some time really thinking about each person. What do they do for a living? What is that person’s hobby? These questions might not help you in adding to your family tree, but they will help you to focus your energy on that personality.

Then you can delve deeper into your own memories of this person. Where did they grow up? Do they like to tell stories about their childhood? Were they named after someone in the family? Do you have pictures of them? What stories do you remember?

Write everything down, even if it seems insignificant. If you don’t want to write it all down, use a tape recorder. You can transcribe it later. Scan photos of that person and keep it with the stories you’ve written.

Then meet with that person and discuss the stories you remember. It’s best to meet individually, and not as part of larger party. Set aside an hour at a time. If they are elderly they may tire quickly. It might be a better use of your time to videotape or record the meeting, so you don’t waste precious time furiously writing everything down.

Flesh out the details. Ask them if they remember their relatives or ancestors. Ask them the same questions as above. Do they have photos? Is there a box of old family “papers” hiding in a closet somewhere? Ask permission if you can look through it.

You will certainly have lots of material to start crafting the family tree after meeting with just one person.

Why a blog?

Family history just fascinates me. And not just my own. There are many facts and people that have been lost to time. I really enjoy puzzles and sometimes I come across some really interesting mysteries in my genealogy travels. I'll post some of my musings here.